Boys School

This past week we were at the boys school. We did basically the same program that we did with the girls the week before. Several of the boys would remember the entire Bible story skit and did really well memorizing the Bible verse. After the four days of the program, we took they boys to the boy's transition house for a carnival.

Eating lunch inside due to rain

Alex getting candy at the bowling station

Ionut doing the limbo

Singing Worship Songs

The modern Joseph skit- Mark was the chocolate factory owner

Rebecca and Oli- he was so sweet and happy to have a friend by his side

Playing a tag game

Futbal

Fishing game

Zip line

The boys school is a special needs school and we were concerned about how the week would go. But God is faithful and answered our prayers, we had a great week and know that the seeds we planted were not in vain. I think all of us on the team have part of their heart left with one of the boys.

Coming Home

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well, we are having a great time with summer camps already and are already nearly halfway through the summer. We want to thank you so much for your continual support and faithfulness. We wanted to let you know that we will be coming home for a very short vacation in August. We will be arriving Thursday August 12 at 6:40 pm in Grand Rapids, on flight AA 4279.

We will be speaking at Red Pine Bible Church (17195 Red Pine Dr., Kent City) on August 15 at 10:30 am. Then on August 22 we will speak at our home church Fair Haven Ministries (2900 Baldwin St, Hudsonville) at the 9:00 and 10:45 services, and there will be a meal and presentation around 12:00 pm. This would be a great opportunity for you to see us and hear more about what we're doing here. We would also like to talk there about how you can come to Romania if you're interested. We will be speaking at Caledonia CRC (9957 Cherry Valley SE, Caledonia) at 6:00 that evening. We will also be speaking at Evergreen Ministries (4512 48th Ave, Hudsonville) August 29 at the 9:30 and 11:00 services. We will leave for Romania around August 30 but don't have the flight info yet.

If you would like to get together with us please let us know and we'll see if we can work it out. Two weeks is a very short visit but we hope we can see as many of you as possible.

Super Team Camp 1

This week we were part of the super team running camp at the girls school in the south. There wasn't enough room to have the girls come to camp at the girls transition house so we had a team go to their school each day. It was a great week filled with fun, spiritual growth, and relationship building.

We started each day with worship and a skit that showed someone having courage. This was the theme of our program. Then we would break into small groups and go over the story again and ask questions about it. We had journals and memory verses and we had them color something about the story.

Mark playing the part of Jesus, preaching as the paralyzed man was lowered through the roof of the house.

After the lesson we would play games and go to lunch, and when we came back we would do crafts and play more games. We also shared why we were in Romania with the older girls, some of whom have aged out of the orphanage but still hang around there.

We played water games one day which was really fun, especially since it was so hot outside.

We especially enjoyed bonding with Miki and Veo, two girls who we were close with at camp two years ago. One of the most fun parts of the day was when the little ones came, they would run up with such excitement and hug us and sit in our laps, how wonderful.

Stela was glad to see Mark again, over the holidays she gave me a knitted wall hanging and this time she gave me a bracelet. She is really special and has a big tender heart.

Pipe cleaner crowns were the biggest hit out of the crafts.

The highlight of camp for me was the day when we talked about Jesus in our small groups and then asked if anyone wanted to ask Him into their hearts. At least two girls in our group said yes and when we prayed the prayer more joined in. It was such an exciting feeling to hear so many little voices following along inviting Jesus to be in their hearts. This camp went so well, the girls were very receptive and open and we had a great time. Thanks so much for your prayers and please continue to pray for the next camps.

Boys Backpacking Trip

Backpacking through the mountains of Romania with eleven boys was a great opportunity for us to pour into their lives. That is exactly what happened last week when we created memories, made new friends, and experienced changed lives.

First we had "boot camp" at the girls transition house, slept in our tents, and left for the mountains in the morning. We took a cable car to a high point in Sinaia and hiked out from there.

There were boys from three locations but the bonding began immediately. We stressed working together as a team and the boys really took this seriously.

We hiked to the cross memorial and talked about how it was made and what the significance of it is. We had many conversations when we hiked and many of the boys shared their stories with us. Others shared their stories when we had our highlights meeting at the end of the day.

We set up a base camp at the mountain rescue station, they were so gracious letting us use their facilities for free. One of them even shared with the boys what he does and the joy that he gets from saving people. He also talked about the joy of being thanked by people long after they were saved. This was a great tie in to how we need a savior and that when we are saved it is good show thanks to God.

The boys really enjoyed the scenery and the nature all around. We we went to a cave behind a monastery and were let in free. The cave was magnificent and there was an underground waterfall inside.

We had a scavenger hunt and orienteering course where the final prize was a container with smores ingredients that we had buried the week before. We played soccer and ultimate frisbee and some other games that the boys enjoyed.

On the way back from one of our hikes a few boys and a few of us were talking about what it means to be a true Christian. When we got back to camp all of the boys sat down in a circle on their own and listened in. We were able to very clearly present the gospel to the boys and they asked lots of really good questions. I know the holy spirit was working in this because it was totally unplanned and the boys were so receptive.

We went to a beautiful lake and the boys swam even though it was freezing cold.

We conversations each morning and evening where we talked about things like what it means to be a man, what we would like our legacy to be, relationships and sexual purity. The last night we collected lots of wood and had a great fire. The conversation went on until about 1:00 AM and we talked about many things, ending with talking about how simple it is to accept Christ into your life, just by believing in Him and asking him into your heart.

The highlight of the trip came next, us leaders were talking and Bebe came up to us and told us he wanted to accept Jesus into his life. We prayed with him and he asked Jesus to be his savior, praise God!!!

God was in this excursion from start to finish. He provided great weather, beautiful scenery, and many opportunities to share our stories and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Girls Camp 2

The second girls camp had the same schedule and program as the first. We continued to talk about lies and God's truth. We shared more testimonies with this group and the girls really enjoyed hearing them. Pray that they continue to think about the truth we have talked about it and fully let God set them free!

Our loving hands...Rebecca and Cyndee

Trying to get Monica to overcome her fear of not being able to swim

Rely race game

On the drive up to Sinaia

How many vans does it take to get 42 people there? 5!

Marci was helping Ioana warm up

The castle and mountains

Making jewlry

The beautiful girls

A beautiful ending to the day...and the girls camp

Girls Camp 1

We had a girls camp for the older girls this week at Snagov. For four days we had twelve girls from various orphanages at the house. Our theme was the truth will set you free. We talked about common lies teenage girls believe and the truths from the Bible. We had a fun packed four days. On Tuesday the next group of 12 girls come. Be praying that these girls hear God's truth and apply it to their lives.

Playing foosball

Make-over skit

Pool Party at Pipera

Marci and Claudia

Mermaid Princess Roxana

Mermaid Princess Isabella

Foot soaks and facials

Vio

Rebecca and Nicoletta

My extreme makeover

All of the girls